It’s 2024 and just like fashion trends come and go, so do artists. In a time when singers need to come up with new and trendy music to stay on the radar, it’s super easy to forget about those who also make great music but aren’t as popular as Sabrina Carpenter right now, or as Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour, or like Olivia Rodrigo when she began to turn even more popular in 2023. These singers’ music are non-stop playing all the time in radio stations or in your Spotify/Apple Music app to the point that you may become tired of hearing to the same thing over and over again. So, I came up with a brief yet charming list of a few underrated artists that I consider are also worth listening to.
AvA max
I could literally call this girl the “Queen of Remakes”, and that’s because many of her songs are very similar to songs from the 80’s, 90’s, and very early 2000’s. Remakes from Shakira’s “Whenever”, to Bonnie Tyler’s “If You Were a Woman”, Ava Max has sampled many songs in her own music. Probably one of her most popular songs similar to “Barbie Girl” by Aqua from the 90’s is “Not Your Barbie Girl” released in 2020.
Ava Max first mainstreamed when she released her song “Sweet but Psycho” (which isn’t really a remake but it’s still very addictive) back in 2018. Since then she has released a few albums and has collaborated with DJ’s such as Kygo, TiĂ«sto, and David Guetta. Some of my favourite songs by her are “Million Dollar Baby” and “Get Outta My Head” from her most recent full album Diamonds and Dancefloors, and “Sad Boy” which is a colaboration with Jonas Blue and R3HAB.
If you’re the type of person who enjoys remakes, and is mostly down for pop/disco music, I truly recommend checking out Ava Max’s music.
Melanie martinez
Artists have to be creative if they wanna engage the audience and create a solid fan base, and I think that’s what Melanie Martinez succeeded on. This girl first featured in The Voice has created an aesthetic that may be a bit odd to some, but it’s extremely creative. We can say the same thing about her albums and songs. Her first album, Cry Baby, features many “baby concepts”, but turned into something a bit darker and bizarre. Her second album, K-12, was an entire success back in 2019 after she not only released songs that talked about different school aspects, but she directed and released her own movie for FREE in YouTube under the same name. I do recommend checking this out.
Her most recent album, Portals, can be a bit odd to some due to the physical change Melanie Martinez went through in order to resemble a fairy (this is all makeup and costume though, so don’t feel scared). But her songs are truly charming and easy to listen to, especially since Melanie Martinez has a kind of soft voice that lets you study while listening to her music. I surely do that.
Grimes
Speaking about being odd yet unique, we have another female artist and DJ under the name of Grimes. You may already know her since she performed at Coachella this past May, or you may know about her as she was Elon Musk’s former partner. However, I think most of her music goes unnoticed.
Grimes is one of those girls in high school that you may think are super weird, but deep down are creative in ways that we can only imagine. This woman from Canada has been in the music industry since 2006! And she released her first albums, Geidi Primes and Halfaxa in 2010. Her music can be described as either futuristic or fantastical. She mostly releases EDM music, but in a way, they feel different. You will only know if you check her out. I first heard about her music after listening to her song “Flesh Without Blood” from her super creative and unique album, Artangels. But the songs that really got me into her were “Player of Games”, “Violence”, and “Shinigami Eyes”. Really people, you have to listen to her music.
Alan Walker
And speaking about EDM, I do have a male Norwegian DJ to talk about. Alan Walker first began to release his music in SoundCloud. That until he released “Faded” back in 2016 and became popular. Ever since then, Alan Walker has been blessing us with so many songs and albums. Once you listen to an Alan Walker song, you’ll immediately know it’s him because he has a certain style that only he produces.
His signature is his iconic black mask and his fans affectionately called Walkers tend to also wear black hoodies with a letter A and a W mixed together (I’ll include myself in this description as well because I’m a huge fan of Alan Walker).
Alan Walker has also made several collaborations with many underrated artists, trying to highlight their skills. He even collaborated with Ava Max in his song “Alone Pt. II”, and even Sabrina Carpenter when she was still an underrated artist in his song “On My Way”.
If you wanna check out his music, I’d recommend either listening to his older songs such as “Alone”, “The Specter”, or “Diamond Heart”, or listen to his newest songs: “Hero”, “Barcelona”, or “Lifeline”. All those previous three are GOLD!
Little Mix
But let’s go over now to a female group which is no longer currently active but were meaningful and popular, especially in the UK, during the 2010’s. I’m talking about Little Mix, a four girl group whose songs come in a variety of themes. From fun, bubbly songs, to sad break up songs, to female empowering anthems, these girls were truly underrated, even if they debuted in The X Factor and around the same time as One Direction (one of the Little Mix members, Perrie, even dated Zayn back in the 2010’s, but that’s a different story).
Little Mix debuted with their song “Wings”, which could be considered the base for all the female empowerment songs they later released in different years such as: “Salute”, “Strip”, “Wasabi” and more. These girls released several albums, and when I say that these girls know how to sing, I truly mean THEY KNOW HOW TO SING.
Sadly, back during the pandemic, for different reasons, one of the members, Jesy Nelson, decided to leave the group, leaving Little Mix with only Perrie, Jade, and Leigh-Anne. Still, these three girls continued producing music, and they released one final album, Between Us, before finally coming their separate ways. Now, each member has gone into their solo careers, but Perrie, Jade, and Leigh-Anne still keep contact with each other. Perrie and Leigh-Anne even started their own family, and now became lovely mommies. Seriously, these women are truly inspiring. I for sure recommend checking their music out!
Danna paola
But for my bilingual or Spanish speakers out there, here I have another recommendation of an underrated artist from Mexico who, even if she’s popular back there, she still needs more recognition overseas. Danna Paola has been in the spectacle industry ever since she was a little kid. She has made a career of both singing and acting. She participated in the Mexican popular telenovela AtrĂ©vete a Soñar, which is probably not known abroad, and has participated in several other Mexican TV shows. She, however, back in 2018-2019, participated in the famous Spanish Netflix show, Élite, which I personally think helped her gain more recognition. And not to even mention she participated in the dub of Rapunzel in Tangled for the version in Spanish.
As I mentioned, Danna is both an actress and a singer. She has released music ever since she was young. Her most recent album, Childstar, holds more mature concepts, but it’s for sure an album worth listening to, as it talks about love and lust such as in “Atari”, having fun like in “XT4S1S”, break ups like in “1 Trago” or “AĂşn Te Quiero”, or self-reflection like in “Tenemos Que Hablar”.
And just as a side note, this woman here also KNOWS how to sing.
Imagine dragons
I can’t finish this article without talking about my favourite male rock band, and that is Imagine Dragons. Gosh, they KNOW how to make music and play with so many different instruments.
Imagine Dragons first debuted back in 2008, but actually made it into the radio stations once they released their first full album, Night Visions, and became popular with their songs “Demons” and “Radioactive”. This band composed of four members has produced so many meaningful and beautiful music, some which talk about mental health, struggles, love, empowerment, and accepting who you are. Some of their most popular songs are: “Shots” from their album Smoke + Mirrors, “Believer”, “Thunder”, and “Whatever it Takes” from Evolve, “Bad Liar” and “Birds” from Origins, and “Bones” from Mercury-Act 2.
Currently, Imagine Dragons is on a worldwide tour with their most recent album LOOM, which features uplifting and empowering songs, and some fun and lighthearted ones. And just as a final thing, the artwork from all of their released albums are truly a masterpiece.
I could seriously talk about all of these artists mentioned in this article all day non-stop, as all of them are extremely talented and for sure deserve more recognition. So, if you’re looking for new music and new artists, why not give all of these guys a try. I promise, you WON’T be disappointed.
